Magnetically controlled doll tearing mechanism



Nov. 26, 1968 D. CROSMAN MAGNETICALLY CONTROLLED DOLL TEARING MECHANISM Filed Oct. 6, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR flflfilA/VD 4. (20.2mm

:ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,412,504 MAGNETICALLY CONTROLLED DOLL TEARING MECHANISM Dorland L. Crosrnan, Glen Ridge, N.J., assignor to De Luxe Topper Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed Oct. 6, 1966, Ser. No. 584,763 9 Claims. (Cl. 46-135) This invention relates generally to toy dolls, and has particular reference to an arrangement for simulating the act of crying or tearing in such a doll.

To increase the pleasure of a toy doll to a child, it is desirable to simulate actions associated with real children in as life-like a manner as possible. One such action is crying, a state which is unfortunately all too familiar to children.

The tearing operation has been simulated in known toy dolls in a manner which is quite unrelated to the nonmal tearing process, and which is furthermore, relatively sloppy in operation. In one type of tearing doll, the child is required to apply a squeezing pressure to a bellows located within the body of the doll. The pressure causes a few drops of liquid, stored within the doll, to be forced out of the doll near the dolls eyes.

It is, therefore, a general object of this invention to provide, in a toy doll, an apparatus which causes the doll to appear to cry or tear without the necessity for the child to touch or move the doll.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a doll tearing apparatus whose operation is externally controlled in a manner which can be hidden from the childs playmates, to further heighten the true-to-life quality of the tearing operation.

It is another object of this invention to provide a doll tearing apparatus whose operation is reliable, simple, and neat, and the construction of which is reliable, sturdy and relatively inexpensive.

It is yet a further object of this invention to provide a remotely controlled, magnetically operated, rotary valve mechanism.

In accordance with these objects, an apparatus is provided, for incorporation within the head of a toy doll, comprising a housing the interior of which constitutes a reservoir for storing the tear simulating liquid. An outlet opening formed in the housing leads from the reservoir through a conduit communicating with a small hole just below the eye of the doll. A valve member, rotatably mounted within the housing, may be rotated to either of two positions, one in which the outlet opening is covered, and the other in which the outlet opening is uncovered. In the uncovered position, the liquid flows through the conduit and out the hole near the eye.

Control of the position of the valve member is remotely effected solely by magnetic means. A magnet is disposed within the housing and secured to the rotatable valve member. This magnet may be rotated by means of a control magnet spaced from the magnet within the housing, resulting in the rotation of the valve between its two positions. The control tmagnet may be in a form which can be conveniently carried in a childs hand, so that the child may cause the doll to cry simply by manipulating the control magnet near the dolls head.

The present invention further provides means for introducing liquid into the reservoir while the doll is being fed, and for permitting any excess liquid to flow out of the reservoir resulting in the doll wetting.

In the drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment of this invention:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a dolls head in which the present invention is incorporated;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view, partially in section, of the Patented Nov. 26, 1968 dolls head, illustrating schematically the operating principles of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a vertical section of the dolls head taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a vertical section illustrating the construction of a tear control mechanism according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a section taken along line 55 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a bottom plan view of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a horizontal section taken along line 77 of FIG. 4 showing the valve member in the closed position in solid lines, and in the open position in the dotted lines; and

FIG. 8 is a vertical section taken along line 88 of FIG. 4.

Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates the hollow head 10 of a doll which is formed, such as from a rubberlike or plastic material, to resemble the head of a child. In a well-known manner, eye openings 12 are provided in head 10 through which simulated eyes 14 are visible. Tear holes 16 are provided in head 10 (FIGS. 1-3), one of such holes being arranged directly beneath the inner corner of each eye opening 12. A hole is also formed in the mouth 20 of the doll.

A bracket 22 (FIG. 3) is secured at its rear end to the interior of the neck portion of head 10 by conventional means such as a screw 24. The front end of the bracket is maintained in place by means (not shown) which engage the inwardly projecting eye sockets of the doll. Bracket 22 is provided at its upper end with 21 Support section 26 in which a tear control apparatus according to this invention, generally designated as 28, is firmly held in place within head 10.

Apparatus 28 (FIGS. 3-8) is formed of a two-sectioned plastic housing 30 onto which a plastic cover 32 is snugly but removably snapped. The inner face of cover 32 has a hemispherical centrally disposed recess 33, and is further provided with an air hole 35 (FIG. 4) in which a ball 37 is retained. As will be further described below, the ball 37 operates as a check valve to prevent liquid from leaving through air hole 35. The lower section 34 of the housing 30 is coaxial with, and approximately one-half the diameter of, the upper section 36. The interior of housing 30 defines a reservoir adapted to hold tear-simulating liquid such as water. Lower section 34 of housing 30 terminates in a bottom hole surrounded by an inwardly projecting flange 38. A bottom. plate 40, which serves as a valve seat, fits snugly within the lower section 34 and rests upon the flange 38. The plate 40 has a laterally projecting key 41 which fits into a groove 43 provided in the side wall of section 34, the key and groove serving to properly orient the plate 40. Two openings or ports 42 are disposed along a diameter of plate 40. Openings 42 are relatively tiny and are in the order of .02 of an inch in diameter.

A pair of hollow pins 44, which serve as conduit connections are coaxial with openings 42 and extend from the lower face of plate 40. Plate 40 is also provided, on its upper face, with a centrally located conical recess 46 (FIG. 4). A pair of aligning pins 48 project from the floor 50 of upper section 36, and are adapted to slide along with lower section 34 into the correspondingly fonmed support section 26 of bracket 12 (see FIG. 5).

Two hollow cylindrical posts 52 and 54 project upwardly from the floor 50 of upper housing section 36. Reduced diameter extensions 56 and 58, serving as conduit connections project downwardly from floor 50, and have their hollow interiors communicating with the hollow interiors of cylinders 52 and 54, respectively. A ball 60 (FIG. 8) which serves as a check valve for a purpose to be described below, is freely disposed within the cylindrical post 52. When the ball is seated, as shown, on the tapered region between the post 52 and extension 56, it obstructs communication between the two. A pair of abutment pins 62 and 64 spaced approximately 90 apart (FIG. 2) project upwardly from the floor 50.

A rotary spindle 66 (FIGS. 4, 5, and 7) within housing 30 is formed at its lower end with a rectangular section 68 which terminates in a conical tip 69. The upper portion of spindle 66 is provided with a rounded portion 7 0. The middle portion 72 of spindle 66, has a vane 74 extending laterally therefrom, and a circular flange 76 is disposed immediately above 'vane 74.

A valve member 78 having a lower substantially rectangular portion and an upstanding collar, is provided with a rectangular bore 80 which accommodates the rectangular section 68 of spindle 66. In this way, a driving connection is established between the spindle 66 and valve member 78. The conical tip 69 of the spindle is inserted into recess 46 in plate 40. When cover 32 is snapped onto housing 30, the rounded upper end 70 of of spindle 66 will fit into recess 33. Consequently, the spindle 66 is rotatably supported at its ends about an axis extending from recess 33 to recess 46.

A compression spring 81 is disposed around the lower one-third of spindle 66, and extends between the bottom of vane 74 and the upper face of the rectangular portion of the valve member 78. The downward force exerted by spring 81 on the valve member 78 urges the lower face of the rectangular portion of the valve member against the top surface of valve seat or plate 40. As shown in FIG. 7, the valve member 78 covers both openings 42 in the position shown in the solid lines. The openings 42 are uncovered when the valve mmeber 78 is rotated approximately 90 to the position shown in the broken lines in FIG. 7.

A disc-shaped permanent magnet 82, having a noncircular central opening 84, is carried by the spindle 66. The magnet 82 rests on circular flange 76, and a fastener 86 is secured to the spindle above the magnet to prevent the magnet from sliding with respect to the spindle. The portion of the spindle which passes through the opening 84 in the magnet is also noncircular to establish a driving relationship between the magnet and spindle. Magnet 82 is preferably made of a ferrite, which is a ceramiclike material. This material is light in weight, difficult to accidentally demagnetize, and noncorroding. The magnetic axis of magnet 82 lies in the plane of the disc, and extends generally from the front of the dolis head toward the back (see FIG. 2). For example, the north pole of the magnet may face the dolls forehead, and the south pole the back of the head.

As seen in FIG. 4, the magnet 82 is titled from the horizontal due to the title of circular flange 76. This construction is preferable because it positions one pole of the magnet closer to the outer surface of the dolls head (see FIG. 3). Thus, the magnet 82 will be more readily acted upon by an external control magnet. It will be appreciated, however, that the magnet 82 may be disposed horizontally without materially altering the operation of the tear control mechanism 28.

Reservoir or housing 30 is filled with a liquid, such as water, 'via opening 18 located in the dolls mouth 20. A length of plastic tubing 88 leads from opening 1 8 to extension 56 (FIGS. 3, 6, and 8) of housing 30. The liquid may be introduced into the doll by placing the doll in a reclining position, and placing a toy nursing bottle, filled with water, into the dolls mouth. Thus, the reservoir is filled during a simulated feeding operation through feed tube 88. During the feeding operation, the ball 60 (FIG. 8) rolls within post 52 and comes to rest against retaining fingers 89 which prevent the ball from leaving the post but allow liquid to flow into the housing 30. When the doll is once again placed in the sitting or upright position, ball '60 falls into, and thereby completely blocks the tapered section between post 52 and extension 56 to prevent the liquid from flowing out of housing 30 through tube 88. The check valve comprising ball 37 (FIG. 4) in cover 32 allows air to escape through air hole 35 during the filling operation but prevents liquid from flowing out of the hole 35 in case the doll is tilted back too far. During the tearing operation described below the doll is in the sitting or upright position, and ball 37 returns to its normal position (FIG. 4) against retaining fingers 91 to permit air to enter housing 30 through air hole 35.

A liquid overflow level within the housing 30 is defined by the height of hollow post 54. When the liquid in reservoir 38 reaches this level, it flows through post 54 and extension 58 into an overflow tubing 90 which leads to a hole in the lower portion of the body of the doll. In this case the doll may be said to be wetting. A length of tubing 92 extends from each hollow pin 44 to one of the tear holes 16 at the dolls face (FIGS. 2, 3, 5, and 6). With the valve member 78 covering ports 42, the liquid is prevented from flowing through the tearing" tubes 92, and the doll is said to be in the eyes dry condition.

When a control magnet 96 (FIGS. 2 and 3), which may be housed within a nonmagnetic casing 98, is brought near magnet 82, the interaction of the magnetic fields surrounding these magnets creates a force between them. When, as shown in FIG. 2, opposite poles of the magnets 82 and 96 are brought close to each other, the force created is an attraction force. Therefore, when the control magnet 96 is moved in a horizontal plane in front of head 10, the magnet 82 will tend to follow the motion of control magnet 96. This magnetic attraction force on magnet 82 causes spindle 66 to rotate about its longitudinal axis since magnet 82 is firmly attached to spindle 66. If the control magnet 96 is moved from its broken line position in FIG. 2 to its full line position, magnet 82 pivots to cause its magnetic axis 99 to move from the broken line position in FIG. 2 to the full line position, and valve member 78 rotates along with spindle 66 to uncover ports 42. The uncovering of the ports 42 causes the liquid within reservoir 30 to flow out from ports 42 through tubes 92 and eventually out of tear holes 16. This flow of liquid is the simulation of the dolls tearing, and will continue as long as ports 42 are uncovered and there is liquid within reservoir 30. The doll is now in what is called the eyes tearing condition.

The amount of rotation of spindle 66 must be restricted so that valve member 78 is moved only between the two positions shown in FIGS. 2 and 7. This restriction is provided by the vane 74 striking against either of the abutment pins 62 or 64 (FIG. 2) which are placed in the path of rotation of vane 74.

This operation is shown schematically in FIG. 2, wherein valve member 78 is shown in a position uncovering openings 42 and vane 74 is against abutment 62. The doll is in the eye tearing condition. When the control magnet 96 is moved to the position shown in broken lines in FIG. 2, magnet 82 will be attracted towards control magnet 96 and the valve member 78 will be rotated to a position wherein it covers the openings 42 to stop the tearing. The valve member 78 is prevented from further rotation by vane 74 striking against abutment 64.

It will be appreciated that what has been provided by this invention is a tear control valve mechanism which is completely controlled by remote magnetic means.

The magnets 82 and 96 need not necessarily be permanent magnets, but may be electrically controlled, and control magnet 96 may if desired be a remotely energized elect-romagnet located within the body of the doll.

It will therefore be understood that the embodiment described is shown merely for illustrative purposes, and that modifications may be made in this embodiment with out departing from the spirit and scope of this invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a doll, an apparatus for simulating the appearance of tea-rs at the eyes of the doll, said apparatus comprising,

a reservoir within the dolls head for containing the tear-simulating liquid,

a tearing conduit extending from said reservoir to a hole in the dolls head near the eye, one end of said conduit communicating with said reservoir at an opening provided therein,

means for sealing said opening, said sealing means being movable away from said opening to establish communication between said reservoir and conduit, and

magnetic means operatively connected to said sealing means, said magnetic means being adapted to cooperate with an external control magnet to cause said sealing means to move with respect to said opening, thereby controlling the flow of the liquid within said reservoir through said conduit to said hole.

2. Ina doll, the arrangement defined in claim 1 Wherein said sealing means comprises -a spindle rotatably mounted about its longitudinal axis within said reservoir, and a valve member rotatable with said spindle, said valve member being arranged to cover and uncover said opening in said reservoir at two different positions of said spindle.

3. In a doll, the arrangement defined in claim 2 wherein said magnetic means comprises a permanent magnet secured to and rotatable with said spindle, said magnet being arranged to be rotated by means of said external control magnet.

4. In a doll, the arrangement defined in claim 2 wherein said valve member is slidable along said spindle, and including spring means for urging said valve member along said spindle into sealing relationship with said opening in said reservoir.

5. In a doll, the arrangement defined in claim 2 including means for limiting the rotation of said spindle to an arc of travel between end positions defining, respectively, an eyes tearing condition wherein said valve member is out of engagement with said reservoir opening, and

an eyes dry condition wherein said valve member covers said opening.

6. In a doll, the arrangement defined in claim 5 wherein said limiting means comprises an arm extending later ally from said spindle, and a pair of abutments fixed with respect to said reservoir arranged in the path of movement of said arm.

7. In a doll, the arrangement defined in claim 1 including a feeding conduit extending from said reservoir to the mouth of the doll, one end of said conduit communicating with said reservoir at a second opening therein, and a check valve associated with said second opening for permitting flow of liquid from the mouth of the doll into said reservoir when the doll is in a substantially horizontal position, but prohibiting flow from said reservoir to the dolls mouth when the doll is in an erect position.

8. In a doll, the arrangement defined in claim 7 including a wetting conduit extending from said reservoir to an opening in the posterior of the doll body, the opening of said wetting conduit in said reservoir being arranged above the floor of the reservoir so that the reservoir can hold a supply of liquid Without causing flow through said wetting conduit.

9. In a doll, the arrangement defined in claim 1 wherein said reservoir is provided with a top wall or cover to enclose its interior, said cover having an opening through it to permit air to enter said reservoir as the liquid flows out, and a check valve associated with said cover opening to prevent liquid from flowing out of said cover opening when the doll is horizontal or upside down but permitting flow of air into said reservoir when the doll is erect.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,827,734 3/1958 Bebbe 46135 3,053,009 9/1962 Ostrander 46-135 3,070,921 1/1963 Baggott et al. 46135 LOUIS G. MANCENE, Primary Examiner.

HAROLD DINITZ, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A DOLL, AN APPARATUS FOR SIMULATING THE APPEARANCE OF TEARS AT THE EYES OF THE DOLL, SAID APPARATUS COMPRISING, A RESERVOIR WITHIN THE DOLL''S HEAD FOR CONTAINING THE TEAR-SIMULATING LDIQUID, A TEARING CONDUIT EXTENDING FROM SAID RESERVOIR TO A HOLE IN THE DOLL''S HEAD NEAR THE EYE, ONE END OF SAID CONDUIT COMMUNICATING WITH SAID RESERVOIR AT AN OPENING PROVIDED THEREIN, MEANS FOR SEALING SAID OPENING, SAID SEALING MEANS BEING MOVABLE AWAY FROM SAID OPENING TO ESTABLISH COMMUNICATION BETWEEN SAID RESERVOIR AND CONDUIT, AND MAGNETIC MEANS OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO SAID SEALING MEANS, SAID MAGNETIC MEANS BEING ADAPTED TO COOPERATE WITH AN EXTERNAL CONTROL MAGNET TO CAUSE SAID SEALING MEANS TO MOVE WITH RESPECT TO SAID OPENING, THEREBY CONTROLLING THE FLOW OF THE LIQUID WITHIN SAID RESERVOIR THROUGH SAID CONDUIT TO SAID HOLE. 